The present invention relates to articles of manufacture having one or more erasably markable surfaces. In one preferred embodiment, such articles are flexible and removably adhered to a surface via applied removable pressure sensitive adhesive, many forms of which are well known in the art of pressure sensitive adhesive technology. In another preferred embodiment, such flexible articles are statically chargeable and capable of clinging to a relatively smooth, flat or curved surface such as a wall.
Dry erasable marking systems are known in the art, one of the earliest of which consists of a blackboard, chalk and a dry eraser. Other dry erasable marking systems include felt tip marking instruments which contain specially produced inks which will satisfactorily mark smooth, hard, rigid, plastic surfaced boards and which can be erased from the plastic surface after the ink has dried using a dry eraser, such as a cloth or paper tissue. In addition, erasably markable flexible articles are known in the art, some of which are capable of clinging to a surface such as a wall. However, these flexible articles suffer from one or more of the following disadvantages: Deformation by the chemical materials used to mark the surface; surface deterioration after repeated marking and erasing, accompanied by either loss of dry erase ink ability to wet out the surface or development of ghost images; and inability to be repositioned at will over extensive time periods. For instance, Static Images.TM. dry erasable electrostatic cling polypropylene film is uncoated. This material is deformed by inks used in commercially available dry erase markers, and repeated image/erase cycles mechanically abrade the surface making the erase step progressively more difficult.
Other polypropylene film surfaced erasably markable articles that are commercially available include Sanford Expo.RTM. Dry Erase Surface and Rubbermaid Con-Tact.RTM. White Board Erasable Marking Surface. These are both backed by permanent bonding pressure sensitive adhesive. Another polypropylene surfaced erasably markable article is available as Re-Mark-A-Chart.RTM. erasable flip-charts manufactured by Ghent, Inc. The erasably markable character of these surfaces deteriorates gradually with repeated application and erasure of dry wipe inks.